The Blackness (The Mac Maguire detective mysteries Book 4)

by Patrick C Walsh

  Mac surprised himself by sleeping right through the night for once. He was relieved as he would need all the energy he could muster to get through the day. He performed his morning ritual. He sat up and then stood up and assessed the back pain. It was bearable and he was thankful for that too.

  Tommy rang the bell at six forty five exactly. Mac had showered and shaved and felt ready for the day ahead. As they went down the hill Mac asked Tommy to slow down as they passed by the site entrance. For once the lights were actually on green. He read the ‘due to be completed’ date as they drove by. He still had another two months to go before he could have his hill back to himself.

  The smell of coffee hit Mac as he walked into the incident room. Everyone seemed to be there except for Jo and Chris who came in within seconds of each other a few minutes later. There were three new faces, a burly uniformed sergeant, a very young looking constable and a young man seated in the corner oblivious to everything except the laptop screen in front of him. Mac smiled as he recognised the straight-up hair style.

  Mac and Tommy just had time to help themselves to a cup of a coffee and a danish pastry before Dan started speaking.

  ‘Okay we all seem to be here so let’s get on with it. Before we start I’d like to introduce Sergeant Colin Willis who’s leading the team doing the door to doors in the area around where Natasha lives. He’ll give us an update of what they’ve found so far. I’d also like to introduce PC Amanda Lingard who’ll be looking after the incident room and liaising with any members of the public who might wander in and may want to give us some information. Also, in the corner there, you’ll see Martin Selby hard at work.’

  Martin turned, looked at the team and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

  Dan continued, ‘Martin’s been attached to the unit for the duration of the case and he’s our computer expert. If you need anything from the police databases or have any queries even slightly related to computers, phones or information held on the internet please ask Martin. You’ll be glad you did.’

  Martin gave them the slightest of waves and went back to his screen.

  ‘So, Chris and Martina, can you make sure that you liaise with Martin? I’m sure he’ll be able to take on a lot of the database related work which should hopefully free up some of your time.’

  Chris and Martina didn’t seem at all unhappy at Dan’s suggestion.

  ‘Okay then, Jo, as we can all read your writing, if you want to take up the marker pen we’ll begin. If each team can give us the bullet points of what they found yesterday so we all know where we’re up to and then I’ll quickly assign tasks for today. Right first up is Mac and Tommy.’

  Each team of two got up in turn and quickly gave the high points of what they’d found the day before. When they’d all finished Mac looked down the list –

  David Hamilton – taxi driver, former teacher, knew Natasha, was in the vicinity of the rank on Bancroft. No alibi?

  Jonathan Aldis – was in the Millstream, a loner who had a crush on Natasha. Need to check if he was there all night.

  Adam Oakley – ex-boyfriend, has an alibi, needs checking

  ViSOR threw up four possible candidates so far, nothing compelling as yet but all worth following up

  One of Natasha’s friends reported that, after an argument, a fellow student called Micky Morgan, said she’d hurt Natasha. Worth following up plus still eleven names on Julie’s list to follow up.

  Mac looked at the white board. Not really that much to go on as yet, he thought.

  ‘Finally a piece of technology,’ Dan announced as he turned on a large flat screen TV newly hung on the wall.

  ‘Martin, can you get a map of the Purwell up?’

  A few seconds later a map appeared on the screen.

  ‘Colin can you show us what areas you’ve covered on the door to doors so far?’

  The uniformed sergeant stood in front of the screen.

  ‘We’ve interviewed everyone in the small block of flats where Natasha lives, except for two residents who were out, and we’ve also interviewed just about everyone in the street on either side up to here and here.’ He pointed at the map with his finger. ‘Nothing as yet, no-one saw or heard Natasha on Saturday evening. A few of them knew her by name and quite a lot more by sight. In all we’ve got six re-visits to do so you never know.’

  The sergeant moved away from the TV screen.

  ‘There may be a good reason why no-one in that area would have seen Natasha. We think that she might not have made it that far.’ Dan said. ‘Martin can you focus in on the short cut and show us the ‘Earth’ view?’

  The screen zoomed in and then turned into an aerial photograph.

  ‘When Mac was interviewing Corinne Obiah she told him that there was a short cut from Purwell Lane to the flats where Natasha lived. From Purwell Lane the entryway looks like all the others. However, whereas all the others only lead to the back entrances of the houses, this one leads into the car park here behind the houses. From there this path takes you by the retirement home and then straight to the block of flats where Natasha lives. We’ve confirmed with Mrs. Barker that Natasha would almost definitely have taken this route home from the Millstream. Mac is firmly of the opinion that Natasha was abducted right here.’ Dan pointed to the middle of the curved section. ‘At this point on the path there are high brick walls on either side and if you stand in the middle of this curved section you’d be invisible from both ends. Forensics found what they think is a chip from an incisor tooth and a small amount of blood. We’re waiting for the DNA results to see if they came from Natasha.’

  Dan looked at the team to see how they took the news.

  ‘I can see from your reaction that most of you think this might be good news. If we do get DNA confirmation it will be the first hard evidence we’ll have had in this case. We’ll at least know that she was abducted, where she was taken from and that violence was used. However knowing this won’t make any difference to what we need to do today. Colin, can you get your men doing door to doors all along Purwell Lane? Especially concentrate on those houses nearest the entryway, someone might have seen or heard something. Andy and Leigh there’s still a lot of people on Julie’s list and we could do with getting through them as soon as possible. Jo and Gerry can you assist with this?’

  Jo and Gerry nodded and looked a little happier at the prospect of some real work.

  ‘Chris and Martina can you follow up on the candidates from the Sex Offender’s Register? Mac and Tommy can you do the retirement home? Mrs. Barker said that the short cut was only known by the locals so whoever took Natasha might be from the estate but it’s also possible that our man’s been stalking her. If that’s the case then someone in the home might have seen something over the last few days or weeks.’

  Mac was grateful, covering the retirement home would hopefully mean less walking.

  ‘Sure, we could also try Jonny Aldis again while we’re there,’ Mac suggested.

  ‘That sounds good. Okay then that just leaves checking out Tony Hamilton’s and Adam Oakley’s alibis for me and Adil to do. Before you go please make sure that you have Martin’s phone number. Everything will now go through him. If you find something important by all means let me know straight away but phone Martin next. He can join up the dots between all the different bits of information we’ll hopefully be finding. We’ve also had some keys made for the incident room in case you need to access it late at night. Please make sure you pick one up from Amanda on your way out. Okay what are you waiting for?’

  The team had started queueing at Amanda’s desk when Dan’s phone rang. Everyone stopped and turned.

  In a very short conversation Dan only said ‘Yes’ twice and finished with ‘Thanks’.

  He turned to the team.

  ‘The tooth chip definitely belongs to Natasha. Now let’s go and catch this bastard!’

  Tommy parked the car as near to the entrance of the retirement home as he could. He opened a set of double doors for Ma
c only to be confronted with another. These were locked. Mac pressed the button of the nearby entry phone.

  ‘Yes, can I help you?’ a woman’s tinny voice replied.

  ‘I hope so. We’re the police and we’d like to ask a few questions.’

  The buzzer sounded and Mac opened the door. The smell of urine and air freshener hit him. He saw an incredibly old woman dancing a waltz with an invisible partner. She was very light on her feet but, on seeing Mac, she veered towards him and the open door. He ushered Tommy in and quickly shut the door behind him. He tested it to make sure it was properly shut. The woman stopped dancing and stood in front of the two men staring at them expectantly as a small child might.

  ‘Alright Victoria, your room is that way,’ a woman said pointing towards a corridor.

  The woman started dancing again and whirled off in the direction indicated.

  ‘How can I help er…’ Mac handed the woman his warrant card. She examined it carefully. ‘…Mr. Maguire. My name is Mrs. Collins and I run this home,’ she said handing him back the card.

  Mrs. Collins was in her early forties, well upholstered and used to being in charge. She reminded Mac of a headmistress he’d had in primary school.

  ‘I’m just wondering if you heard that we were working outside last night?’

  ‘Yes I did. I finish at six but one of the night staff told me that some men in plastic suits were crawling around on the floor and taking photographs near the back entrance. Is this about the missing girl?’

  He nodded.

  ‘We’ve established that she was abducted from that entry way just outside your home.’

  Mrs. Collins put her hand to her mouth in shock.

  ‘She was abducted right outside the home? God help us all,’ she said making the sign of the cross.

  ‘Tell me do you have any CCTV cameras in the car park?’

  ‘I wish I had the budget to be able to afford CCTV cameras,’ she said. ‘Even if I did I’d spend it on something else. Anyway there’s been no need, I laid down the law regarding parking with all the neighbours and I must admit that so far they’ve been very good.’

  ‘I see. I was just wondering if there’s any chance that anyone here might have noticed something out of the ordinary the night she disappeared?’

  ‘I think you’ll be lucky. Most of our residents suffer from one sort of dementia or another. Believe it or not but you’ve just met one of our more high functioning guests. However, there is someone who might be able to help you. But before you see her perhaps it might be best if you see the three night ladies.’

  ‘Were they on Saturday night as well?’

  ‘Oh yes they always do the whole weekend and you’re lucky, they’re still here having a cup of tea and handing over before they go home.’

  He followed Mrs. Collins down corridor after corridor, all lined with doors upon which cheery signs said, ‘Martha’s Room’, ‘Ethel’s Room’, ‘Barbara’s Room’. There didn’t seem to be many men in the home. They eventually came to the canteen, a large open space containing tables and chairs and a serving hatch which was now closed. Six members of staff were sitting at a long table, drinking tea and talking. They stopped talking when they drew near.

  ‘Margaret, Donna and Sylvia, these two men are from the police. They’d like a word with you both.’

  They all glanced nervously up at Mac and Tommy.

  ‘Where would you like them, Mr.Maguire?’

  He pointed to a table at the opposite side of the room. ‘One at a time, please. Perhaps Margaret first?’

  Margaret made her way over to the table. She was taller than Mac, in her mid-forties and a little shambling in her movements but she looked pleasant and good natured.

  He explained why he was there. When he mentioned that Natasha had been abducted right outside the home her reaction was pretty much like her boss’s.

  ‘I’m really shocked,’ Margaret said. ‘I live locally and I used to see Natasha sometimes with her mum. I still can’t believe that someone could do such a thing and in Hitchin too’.

  ‘Did you see or hear anything the night Natasha disappeared? That’s the night before last.’

  She gave it some thought then shook her head.

  ‘Unfortunately the staff area that’s used as a hub at night is right in the centre of the building, so the windows don’t look outside.’

  ‘And none of the…guests,’ he’d nearly said ‘inmates’ but guessed that it wouldn’t be appreciated, ‘reported anything unusual to you, especially around ten o’clock?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘Most of the guests are asleep well before then, except possibly for Emily, but no-one reported anything as far as I’m aware.’

  ‘Have you ever seen anyone suspicious hanging around the home?’

  She gave this some deep thought. Mac mentally crossed his fingers.

  ‘No, I don’t think I have if I’m honest. Just the usual people I see.’

  He thanked her and moved on to night lady number two. Donna was the youngest of the three. She worked three nights a week and was doing a Sociology degree as well. She wasn’t from the estate and she said that she’d never seen Natasha before. Mac asked her if she’d seen anyone hanging around the home.

  ‘There was someone, I saw her a few nights running out in the car park last week as I came to work.’

  ‘A woman?’

  ‘Yes a woman, perhaps late thirties, quite slim. Probably just waiting for her husband I suppose.’

  A woman? Mac didn’t think it had any bearing on the case but mentally filed it anyway.

  Sylvia, the third night lady, was thin, around forty and somewhat nervous. She kept fidgeting and touching her face all through the interview. Unfortunately she seemed to know even less than the other two.

  When he’d finished he asked Mrs. Collins who Emily was.

  ‘She’s the guest I was going to take you to see. You’ll see why when you meet her.’

  ‘Can we have a word with the day staff first just in case they noticed something? Anyone hanging around, that type of thing.’

  All in all Mac and Tommy interviewed eleven members of staff. Almost all of them had seen Natasha at one time or another but none of them had noticed anything strange over the last few weeks or anything else that might have been of help.

  Mac had to hope that this Emily might be a bit more forthcoming.

  Mrs. Collins led them down another long corridor and stopped outside a door right at the very end. A sign proclaimed it to be ‘Emily’s Room’.

  She knocked on the door and a thin voice said, ‘Come in.’

  Mrs. Collins led him into the room.

  ‘Emily, this is Mr. Maguire from the police. He has a few questions to ask you.’ Mrs. Collins turned to him and Tommy and said, ‘I’ll leave you to it. Please come and see me on your way out.’

  He turned to Emily who was gesturing for him and Tommy to sit down on a small sofa. She was seated in a black office swivel chair. She was tiny and probably well into her seventies, Mac thought. Her wide smile made her look like the stereotypical nice granny. The room had a single bed, a desk with an open laptop on it, an office chair and the two-seater sofa they were sitting on. A large window covered most of one wall, screened by a venetian blind.

  ‘Emily, I take it you’ve heard of the disappearance of Natasha Barker?’ Mac asked.

  ‘Of course I have, it’s been all over the news. Such a shame, she seemed such a nice girl.’

  He was surprised by her answer.

  ‘Did you know Natasha then?’

  ‘No, not by name anyway, but I used to see her walking by with some of the young people from the college at lunchtimes and in the evenings,’ she said pointing to the window.

  He went and had a look. The slats of the venetian blinds were turned so they were horizontal and you could clearly see the car park and the end of the entry way that led from Purwell Lane.

  ‘What did you make of her?’

&nbs
p; ‘Oh, I so love looking at all the young people. They’re so full of life, so passionate about things. Natasha seemed as passionate as any of them. She always had a cloud of friends around her, all vying to get a word in edgewise as young people do.’

  ‘Two nights ago Natasha was abducted from the entry way that runs beside the home, just a few yards from your window, at around ten in the evening,’ he stated.

  Emily face clearly showed her surprise and then something else, a sort of dark thoughtful look.

  ‘From here? Oh that poor girl! So that’s what all those men in plastic suits were doing last night. I thought it was quite exciting, like something from CSI. The thought had crossed my mind though that it might be connected to Natasha somehow but it still comes as something of a shock.’

  ‘Did you see or hear anything?’

  She put a finger to her lips.

  ‘Let me think, ten o’clock, two nights ago? Yes, I’d just started watching the news while waiting for Match of the Day to come on.’

  ‘Match of the Day?’ he asked, surprised that she might be into football.

  ‘Oh, I never miss a programme Mr. Maguire. I love my football, why me and my late husband Alfie were season ticket holders at Brentford for over thirty years. Even when we moved to Hertfordshire we used to get the train into London for every home game. Now last Saturday it was the big match, the title more or less depended on it, and I couldn’t miss that. Now did I see or hear anything?’

  She gave this some serious thought.

  ‘Oh yes there was something. It was unusual but it has happened once or twice before.’

  ‘What was that?’

  ‘I saw someone walking from the car park, they were going into the entryway towards the flats.’

  ‘Did you see what they looked like?’ Mac asked hopefully.

  ‘Oh no dear, the blinds were drawn so I couldn’t see out.’

  She could see a look of puzzlement on Mac’s face.

  ‘It’s the light, dearie,’ she said pointing to the window. Mac went and looked out of the window again. A tall lamp post stood in the centre of the car park and, on seeing it, Mac knew what she meant.

  ‘You mean you saw their shadow on the blind as they walked between the light from the lamp post and your window.’